Puppy dog tales
by GeorgianDevil
Summary: Nico goes to Hogwarts in yet another crossover story. Set in book 1, it will be 6 or more chapters and have a little of everything. I do mention Percabeth. It was written by Georgian devil, so if I wrote you a poor review, feel free to flame as you wish.
1. new faces

**Here it is. My very own story. You all have said to me "Why don't **_**you **_**write a story if you're such an expert on the subject," and I got to thinking, well, I have written plenty of stories, but I have yet to post one. So, I dug through my documents and found this little tidbit. The story should end up being six chapters, and it does have a sequel, so if you **_**really**_** want it, Hell, why not? Otherwise, if I wrote you a review that wasn't very flattering, flame at will. It's really a marvelous way to vent at me for not being appreciative of your extraordinary writing talent. Here you go:**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

Harry and Ron were sitting in the train, eating the Bertie Botts every flavor beans, and soon they were both laughing. Harry had never had such a good time with anybody, and he felt truly content, laughing there with the first friend he had ever had. The Train was speeding through fields and pastures, and then the lights went out in their compartment. They both looked up, confused, only to see the lights flicker back on. The light brought with it a person, a boy who looked about their age, who seemed to have just fallen casually into the seat next to them. He was a rather strange person, with black hair that fell over black eyes and olive skin. His attire matched his hair; dark. Harry thought he caught a glint of steel within the dark leather jacket, but the boy shifted and it was gone.

"Hello," he said, as though it was perfectly normal for him to have appeared out of thin air like that, "I'm Nico."

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, and then shrugged.

"I'm Ron Weasley."

"Harry Potter."

Nico nodded, "pleased to meet you."

"Yeah," Ron said, "you too. Er, if you don't mind my asking, how did you get in here?"

Nico looked a little bit taken aback by the question, but he was saved from answering by a round-faced boy who came in, looking for a toad. When they both responded that they hadn't seen it, he looked miserable, but then his eyes fell on Nico.

"Nico?" He asked in shock, and Nico looked just as surprised.

"Neville! I forgot you were going to be here this year."

"yeah… but what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be…"

"I am. I'll talk to you about it later. Good luck with the frog."

"Toad!" Neville said indignantly, "and I can't believe I lost him again!" he wailed as he left the compartment.

Ron looked at Nico curiously

"How do you know him?"

"Oh, Neville and I go way back." Nico said, and he smiled wistfully for a minute, staring into space as though remembering some moment from long ago, "He and I were friends before I moved to America."

"You're from America?" Harry asked, intrigued. He had never been there, but there had been a huge storm that wiped out a large section of the country just last month. It had been a big story even on their news; Harry had heard his uncle talking about it.

"Can't you tell from the accent?" Nico asked, amused, "Why, have you ever been there?"

"No," said Harry, "but I heard about that storm on the muggle news."

"Oh, yeah. It was pretty big, took out half of Ohio and most of the area around the Mississippi."

"Really?" asked Ron, "I didn't hear about that. Where you in the middle of it?"

"Oh no," Nico replied, "I was in New York at the time."

"Oh." Ron said, "Is that close to Ohio?"

Nico laughed, and Harry realized that Ron had learned everything from his parents, who probably never thought to teach him much about geography in America.

"No, it's a pretty good distance, but my half of my family was caught in the middle. They didn't get hurt, but it was still pretty freaky."

"Wow," Ron said, looking slightly impressed, "are they wizards, then?"

Nico looked startled by the question, but once more was saved by the opening of the compartment door. This time a bushy brown-haired girl entered followed by Neville. She had a very bossy tone of voice as she asked, yet again, if either of them had seen the toad. Seemingly disappointed by the lack of positive response, she turned to go, but, like Neville, stopped at the sight of Nico.

"Is that a _dagger_?" she asked with a tone of disgust, staring at Nico's waist. He shifted uncomfortably, moving his leather jacket to hide whatever lay underneath.

"And what if it is?"

"What in the _world _would you need a _Dagger_ for at Hogwarts?" She asked, sounding appalled.

Nico looked at her, eyebrows raised, "cutting things, of course."

She looked taken aback for a moment, and then noticed something else about him.

"Is that your wand?"

He pulled it out, and the shape looked a bit funny to Harry. The edges seemed a little blurred and the tip rather pointy, but then the edges cleared a little, and Nico nodded.

"Sixteen inches, stygian core, inflexible."

Harry thought that the wand looked slightly foreboding. It was pitch black and seemed to darken the room just by its presence. He didn't like the way Nico pronounced stygian; he sort of rolled it, giving it a foreign sound.

"Stygian core? Wands can't have Stygian cores, it says so in _Magical Theory._" She said.

Nico gave her an odd look, "That so? Well, this one has a Stygian core, so I suppose it isn't a wand."

The girl looked taken aback, then decided to suddenly change the subject.

"I'm Hermione Granger. Who are you?"

"Nico Di Angelo." He said, stowing his wand away inside his jacket.

"And you're from America?"

He nodded, and Hermione turned to the other two boys.

"And, you are?"

"Ron Weasley."

"Harry Potter."

"Are you really?" she asked, excited, before going on about all the books he was in. They started talking about the houses.

"Are you all eleven too then?" Hermione asked. Ron and Harry nodded, but Nico spoke up.

"I'm twelve."

"So this is your second year at Hogwarts?"

"No, I studied in America. I'm transferring, but I'll be repeating first year. The Age limit is different here."

"Oh," Hermione said, looking rather put out. Harry expected she would have liked to get a bit more knowledge about the school.

She and Neville left soon after, and Harry and Ron began talking about the houses.

"What about you, Nico? Where do you think you'll end up?"

Nico frowned, "Either Gryffindor or Slytherin. It makes no difference to me."

"What about your parents? Are they witch and wizard?"

Nico considered, "It's sort of an awkward subject. I don't like to talk about it."

Ron and Harry, much as they would have liked to, didn't press.

The door opened once more, and the pointy-faced boy Harry had met from Diagon ally came in followed by two very large boys. They talked and exchanged insults, and then both boys were on their feet, ready to fight. Then there was the sound of an adult with the commanding voice only a teacher can possess coming down the train car. Draco Malfoy hovered for a minute, then left with his two beasties following. Hermione stopped back in again, and told them that they would be arriving at Hogwarts soon.

They changed into their school robes as the light outside the windows began to fade. Harry noticed that Nico left on his muggle clothes and put the robes on over them. It didn't matter much; he still looked immaculate in the black. Harry watched out the window as the train rolled to a stop. They left their luggage on the train as was instructed, and followed Hagrid to the lake. Nico had hung back a bit and Harry lost him in the crowd, but he managed to stay next to Ron. Harry and Ron were at the end of the group, and they were passing by trees and undergrowth when Harry heard rustling. There was something moving in the forest just to their left. Harry stopped Ron, and, gesturing for him to stay silent, peeked quietly through the trees. He saw Nico enter the small clearing confidently, then there was more rustling and Draco Malfoy came in from the other side. His face broke into a wide grin when he saw Nico standing there.

"Draco! Good to see you." Nico whispered, shaking Draco's hand.

"Me? I'm glad to see _you_. You changed your mind then?" Draco returned, keeping his voice low.

Nico grinned, "Nope, you're on your own there. I'm doing some stuff for my dad."

Draco's face fell. "Come on. We really need you here! How long are you staying?"

"However long it takes. I just gotta finish this before I head back."

"At least help us while you are here," Draco salvaged.

"Draco, I need to stay focused. If I happen to come across someone, I'll send them your way. That's all I can promise." Nico told him.

"Well, thanks anyways Nico. Hey, I'll see you this summer, right?"

"Yeah. Now we gotta go. Have fun being a spoiled asshole."

"Have fun being the American exchange student."

They both grinned, and Draco slipped back into the group. Harry and Ron looked at each other in the shadows. Nico knew Malfoy? Something was definitely wrong with that.

**Well, one chapter down. Wasn't it lovely? **

**Information regarding updates: This story will run a three-week course. It will be six chapters, with an update every Monday and Friday. As it was originally posted on the 19****th****, the next update will be on the 23****rd**** and so on. The story will be complete on the 14****th**** of October, at which point I may or may not post the sequel. The uploading of the sequel will be based on its completion and my happiness with it; begging will get you nowhere. (Though I do accept bribes- flat rate of $100 per chapter. Leave it in a fiddle case on a hickory stump in Georgia, two miles from Atlanta … **_**No, not really.**_**) Okay, I think that about covers it. I might vary the timing, if I suddenly realize I forgot something or I had a spontaneous urge to write an extra chapter. See you Friday-**

The Georgian Devil 


	2. so what happens next?

**Hey guys, here's the next installment. I'm a little downed today because I have to write in-depth reading notes on Charles Dickens, Conjugate French verbs, and deal with x's and y's and triangles and a2+b2 equaling c2, and I didn't know that the population of the World was projected to be 9 billion, not 7.8 billion on the review quiz in science today, so all in all my day sort of sucked. I have no idea how to get my homework done, and I know I should be doing that right now, instead of complaining to you. Well, it goes. **

**Previously: They both grinned, and Draco slipped back into the group. Harry and Ron looked at each other in the shadows. Nico knew Malfoy? Something was definitely wrong with that. **

Harry looked back up to see Nico heading their way. Harry and Ron turned, as quietly as they could, and stole back to the group before he could see them. A few minutes later Nico emerged from the trees, and his eyes widened at the majestic sight of the castle looming overhead. Then he saw the lake, and the boats that Hagrid was now instructing them to climb into. Harry and Ron got into one, but Neville and Hermione joined them before they could wave Nico over. Harry leaned around Neville, searching the shore for Nico, but he could only see a few straggling students and Hagrid.

_He must have gotten in a different boat, _thought Harry, _shame. I wanted to ask him about Malfoy._

Harry looked around, but there were no oars. He realized they must move by magic, and he wondered why they hadn't started yet. He looked back towards the shore and heard Neville audibly curse. There was some commotion, and Hagrid was arguing with a student. Harry recognized Nico, who was standing, arms crossed, point blank refusing to get into the boat. Ron and Harry were confused, but Neville leapt up and ran over to Nico and Hagrid.

Harry and Ron could barely make out the conversation.

"…Drown!" Nico raised his voice at the end, permitting them to catch his last word.

"You won't drown if you stay in the boat!" Hagrid said, his voice now carrying clearly over the shore.

"No. I'm not getting in the boat." Nico said forcefully. Neville, silhouetted against Hagrid's lantern, bent down and whispered into Nico ear.

"I said no, I meant no." he replied.

Neville whispered again, and Nico hesitated.

The next words were too quiet for them to hear, but they could see Neville nod an affirmative.

Nico slumped, defeated, and reached into his pocket. He pulled out something and Harry caught a glimpse of gold before he tossed it into the water and murmured something. Hagrid looked highly disgruntled, and went to settle into his own boat. Neville was debating with Nico again, and then he went and joined two other boys and a girl in a different boat while Nico came towards them. He reached the bow of their boat, but seemed to be having trouble getting in. Harry saw him clench his teeth, shut his eyes, and sit down. He kept his eyes closed tightly and clenched the sides of the boat tightly, his knuckles white. Hagrid commanded the boats forward, and they set off. The minimal rocking of the boat instantly turned Nico's face green, he looked ready to bee ill. They had made it about a quarter of the way across the black water when ripples came up alongside them that had nothing to do with their wake. Harry, eyes wide, saw the heads of no less than ten men coming up alongside the boat, easily keeping pace. Harry realized that they must be mermen, but they had no interest in him. They were all glaring at Nico.

"Child," one said in a raspy, throaty voice.

Nico looked at the mermen fearfully.

"I paid you homage! He said, " I offered my gold to you in return for safe travel through the water!"

The merman looked at the others.

"More," he said, "bring us the child of our lord."

"Oh come on! You want me to bring you Percy?" at his name, the merpeople looked excitedly at one another.

"You know Perseus? You bring us the great hero. We want to meet him."

Nico looked incredibly annoyed.

"Yes, fine, you can meet Percy. Now will you _please_ let us go and get off this lake?" Nico agreed hurriedly, looking anxious and exasperated. The merfolk agreed and released the boat, sliding down into the water. A flash of color and they were gone. The little boat sped up now, faster than the others, pulling ahead with ease and then leaving them all behind. They went through a curtain of ivy beneath the castle and into an underground tunnel, still making excellent speed. There was a tiny gravel beach, and the instant they settled on the pebbles Nico leapt out, looking relieved to be on dry land.

He used a few choice swear words before commenting.

"Never again. Never #$&%!* again. Hermione looked rather shocked, and everyone got out of the boat and sat down, waiting for the other boats to arrive.

"Nico…" Ron started but he was cut off.

"I do _not_ want to talk about it." His voice sounded far away, and Harry looked back to see him pressed against the wall, as far from the water as possible. The other boats came in a few minutes, and Hagrid didn't look very amused. The other students were looking at them curiously, but Nico ignored them all. When Hagrid knocked and the doors opened, he was the first one in. They were met by a stern woman called Professor McGonagall, who seemed rather like the type of person any reasonable being would be hesitant to cross. She led them up the steps and Nico, looking much better now that he had gotten away from the water, was directly behind her. They went into an enormous entrance Hall, and the voices of the other students leaked out from the great double doors that were on the other side. However, they were led into a small room just off the main one, and there they waited. Professor McGonagall began to leave, but turned at the doors to face them.

"Is there a Mr. Nico Di Angelo here?" she asked, and Nico stepped forward, looking cool and comfortable, relaxed while the rest of them were nervous and tense. Harry didn't know how he managed to do it, but his robes looked much blacker than those of the students surrounding him. He stood in front of the teacher casually.

"Yes, Mr. Di Angelo, come with me." Nico followed her out of the room, the only one of the first years who didn't look curious. He acted like he knew what this was about, and was ready for it. The doors closed with a definitive boom, leaving them in a kind of terrified, awkward silence. The odd occurrence of one of their fellows leaving them was broken by the arrival of the ghosts, drawing everyone's attention away from the doors to the ceiling.

Nico followed Professor McGonagall up several staircases and through multiple halls to find himself in front of a large stone gargoyle. McGonagall said the password, butterbeer, which Nico noted in case he needed to come in later, to steal something or take a better look. They twirled up a spiral staircase that moved by itself, and came to the door. McGonagall grasped the Griffin-shaped knocker, which Nico stayed well away from, and rapped it twice. The door opened on its own, and Nico went into the circular room, that would have been rather impressive had he not seen Hades' office. Still, he noted the sleeping portraits on the walls and the silver instruments. He recognized a few, and wondered what the Headmaster of a fancy magical boarding school could possibly need with them. McGonagall instructed him to wait until the Headmaster came. He shrugged and sat down in a wooden chair and resigned himself to wait. However, as soon as the doors shut behind the teacher, Nico stood up and melted into the shadow. He had an hour, at least, while everybody ate. He would not be wasting it. He skipped across the corridor, bouncing from one shadow to the next, and continued into the staircases until he was back on the first floor. Then he moved methodically, mapping out in his mind the school, and any place where something could easily be shielded and guarded. There was an interesting carving behind one tapestry, a snake, that Nico made note of. He found a similar one by a great marble staircase in the shape of a lion, but he wasn't very concerned with them. The faster he found the rock, the better. He didn't want to stay in the school any longer than he had to, with its stupid lake and obsession with things that flew. He had covered approximately half of the first floor when he heard hundreds of voices moving towards him. The feast was over, clearly, and he wasted no time tunneling his way through the shadows to right back where he had started. He had gotten much more precise with his landings, and managed to fall right into the chair. The first thing he noticed when he got there was the bird. Huge, majestic, it sat with its scarlet head held high and its gold tail feathers fanned beneath it on its perch. A phoenix. Nico didn't like birds. He especially didn't like magical birds. He really couldn't stand immortal birds. It was like a gaping expanse in his realm of shadows and ghosts; the stupid bird sat there and didn't even cast a shadow. It went against everything he stood for. He automatically moved the chair back, away from the golden perch. Suddenly, a door opened from behind him. He looked up and stood as the Headmaster entered. He worked, hard, at keeping the loathing out of his features, trying to make them as innocent as possible. He had heard his father complain about Albus Dumbledore more times than he cared to remember, and it would be oh so satisfying to kill him and save himself the future rants. However, he reminded himself, he had a job to do, and Dumbledore wasn't the most important issue on his hands. So he waited patiently, a look of serenity plastered over his face as the Headmaster took a seat behind the desk and stroked the phoenix absently. Inside, Nico was nauseas. Being in the same room with the bird was bad enough, but to touch it? He felt like throwing up.

"So, Mr. Di Angelo. I do not recall sending a letter to you inviting you to come to my school." Dumbledore was calm and easy, not sounding incredibly angry. Nico looked him square in the eye and, with an honest, open look, lied his head off.

"No, sir. I didn't get a letter, but the principal of my old school said everything was taken care of and that I was supposed to come here to heighten my magical education."

"Your old school in America?" Dumbledore clarified.

"Yes, sir, that's right."

"Well, I'm afraid everything was not taken care of. Your old principal never contacted me, and I was not aware that you were coming."

"But then," Nico said, a frown accenting his confused look, "How do you know who I am?"

Dumbledore looked at him, "I know quite a few things, Mr. Di Angelo. However, one thing that escaped my attention was how you managed to get onto the train without my consent."

Nico remained confused, "I apparated, sir."

Dumbledore was taken aback, "You are not old enough to apparate."

"Yes I am sir, I turned twelve last month! I have my learners permit." He said, smiling.

Dumbledore was surprised once more.

"I meant that you are not old enough to apparate here in England. Perhaps the rules are different in America, but here you must be seventeen to get an apparation license."

"Seventeen? Really? But… what do we learn until then?" Nico asked, looking confused and a little frightened.

"You will take History of Magic, Charms, Transfiguration, Astronomy, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Herbology, and in your third year you can choose your next classes."

Nico did his best to look intimidated and impressed. He was a good liar, but it was still difficult to force false emotions onto his face when all he wanted to do was look bored and nonchalant.

"I will take them then?" he asked hesitantly in a small voice, "you'll let me stay?"

Dumbledore looked at him deeply with those blue eyes, which, try as they might, couldn't hold a candle to Thalia's electric. They were close, though, and gave Nico a little chill as they searched him for answers. He felt a miniscule brush, like a tickle in his head, which he recognized as the presence of another's mind entering his. He blocked it swiftly, without hesitation, and perhaps a little too forcefully. It gave much less resistance than he was used to, and he was surprised by how easily he could block the headmaster. He looked at him, surprise filling his features.

"Is there an Occlumency class as well? I didn't think it was a common practice, our school just specialized in that."

Dumbledore tried to cover his surprise this time, but couldn't fool Nico, who had seen more experienced people try to hide surprise with less success.

"I didn't realize you were so advanced in magic, Mr. Di Angelo. I'm afraid that Hogwarts does not teach anything that would challenge you. Perhaps it would be wiser for you to continue studies in America."

Nico looked fearful, "Oh, please sir, I can't go back! I don't have the money to go to the advanced school, and I can't go back to the preliminary place! I have nowhere to go but here! I will be challenged, too, I promise! I can't transfigure things very well, and I'm awful at potions! I cant go back, sir, please don't make me go back!" with a little effort Nico forced tears into his eyes.

Dumbledore was quick to calm the frantic boy. "Of course, of course, you can stay here. You will be joining the first years, and be attending classes normally. You will have to return to your home, however, during the summer break."

Nico nodded, trying to look very relieved. The act was wearing on him, and he couldn't wait to get out of the room. The stupid bird was draining his energy, sucking away the shadows that he could have been gaining from. It was driving him insane, so he tried to wrap it up. He yawned smoothly, and opened his eyes again slightly blearily. Dumbledore smiled.

"Just one more thing before I send you to bed. You must be sorted!" He walked to a very old, dirty hat and plucked it off the top shelf of a bookcase. He placed it carefully on Nico's head, where it promptly fell over his eyes.

So, Nico Di Angelo, eh? What an interesting head you have. So many secrets, but not enough time. I see many brave feats, oh, yes you are very brave, but what is this? Quite a bit of trickery here and there. Slytherin would be a good match for you, but your Gryffindor traits are equally strong, so where do I place you? Ah, what here?

The hat was silent for a moment, and Nico had a sudden recollection of asphodel. Not exactly a pleasant picture. Hold up. If the hat was sorting through his memories, soon he would find certain disturbing images that Nico would rather forget. It would be rather awkward to have to explain that away, so he carefully sealed away those images. Gently, this time, without so much excess force, and the hat started whispering to him again.

I do believe Slytherin is the best for you, yes with all of that, it should be **Slytherin! **

The Hat said the final word aloud, and Nico pulled the hat off, relieved to have it out of his head.

Dumbledore smiled.

"Well, that's that. I can summon one of the Slytherin Prefects to show you the Common Room," he said, but Nico was quick to dissuade him.

"I'm used to doing things for myself, I can find it on my own. What's the password- Sir?" Nico had dropped his façade for a brief second as thoughts of a warm bed consumed him. He hastily tried to cover it, and luckily Dumbledore seemed to brush it off.

"I believe the current password is _Fuego Verde_. A few warnings, before you are off. The forbidden forest is off limits, as one may deduce from the name, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds, and you may not use magic in the corridors between classes. Now, to bed, and tomorrow you will begin lessons." Nico stood and thanked the professor, before turning and making his way down the staircase. He emerged in the empty corridor, which, at this hour, was quite deserted. He knew about the ghosts, but really didn't feel like dealing with them tonight, so he avoided the pinpoints of light on the edge of his consciousness as he walked to the first floor. Making several turns and quite a few backtracks, he found the tiny snake that had been engraved into the wall behind a tapestry. It was facing right, so he went into the small doorway and down cold stone steps that were next to the tapestry. The air was getting colder, and the lights dimmer, but Nico didn't mind. He had good vision in low lights, and the shadows around him were replenishing his strength, giving him a little boost that helped keep him on his feet. The stairs went down farther and farther, until he hit the hallway. The hallway stretched off indefinitely in both directions. Nico brushed back the nearest tapestry, and saw a little snake pointing left. He immediately turned and began walking, a curious sensation in the pit of his stomach. The walls reminded him of another maze, one that had nearly killed him, and that he had no wish to ever be back in. However, this hallway branched off quickly and Nico was able to follow it to a blank stretch of wall, where the hall was suddenly cut off. Nico paused, thinking he might have made a wrong turn, but then he sensed a presence behind the wall, a ghost. Well, that didn't mean anything, there could easily be another corridor just behind it, but it was worth a shot.

"_Feugo Verde," _Nico whispered, and the wall slid open to reveal a low, dark room with rough walls and green lighting. It gave it a very eerie effect, which suited Nico fine. The common room was empty, save for the ghost Nico had sensed. He tried to sneak around it uncomfortably, with no success. The ghost turned and saw him, and Nico saw the ghost. He didn't recognize it, but _it_ clearly knew _him_. Bowing deeply, the ghost turned its fearful eyes on Nico. Retaining his composure, expression carefully formal, the Ghost stood and faced the Ghost King. Only his pearly eyes gave away his true emotion; they were shining with absolute terror.

"My lord," he greeted Nico, "It is an honor to meet you, here in my own place of dwelling. Please, if there is anything I can do for you, it would be a pleasure to serve the lord." With these last words he knelt, hovering over the dark carpeting. Nico sighed inaudibly and spoke.

"Rise, specter. I require nothing tonight. You have welcomed me to your home. This Generosity will not be overlooked."

Nico paused, wondering if he could do it right, and he reached out and touched the ghost's shoulder. He whispered the words that came so naturally to him and watched as the spirit relaxed and fell back in a chair, asleep. It was one of the gifts Hades often gave to spirits who had done him some great service or another; He allowed them rest for one night. Souls never slept, but it was a thing that the dead craved, a privilege stricken from them in the passing from life to death. With the ghost resting peacefully, Nico went up the stairs on the left hand side near the back of the long room. Climbing quickly, he went into the door at the top, his mind ready to collapse into sleep. He took notice of the room, green with five four-poster beds, four of them occupied with the curtains drawn, and the fifth ready for him. The remainder of the room was a dark mass of black shapes, and he fell asleep without really caring what the rest of it looked like.


	3. Something I've been putting off

**Okay, so I'm trying everything I can think of to get rid of that pesky spacing problem. This chapter is double spaced, so maybe that will help. I also know how short the chapters are, but that's more of a problem with the story only being so long. Not exactly my best work, but the sequel is set to be _way_ longer. This only totals to about 29 pages, so if the chapters were longer, the story will have to be shorter. Not really anything interesting here, I didn't go into too much detail about what happens in this eventful chapter. **

**Previously: He took notice of the room, green with five four-poster beds, four of them occupied with the curtains drawn, and the fifth ready for him. The remainder of the room was a dark mass of black shapes, and he fell asleep without really caring what the rest of it looked like.**

The words to describe the difference of night and day are few and poor, but rest assured that they are great. The crisp light of the morning gave color where there had been none, and a skylight where darkness had been. There was an old-fashioned cook stove in the corner, radiating heat that was welcome, as the walls were stone that seemed to sap the warmth from the room. The black shapes that had risen from the floor when Nico had entered last night were now detailed. The bedspread was patterned, something that had been lost in the darkness. Nico took a moment to appreciate the differences before getting up to see that the rest of the curtains were still drawn around the beds. He checked his watch, but remembered that he had forgotten to set it properly and therefore had no idea what time it was. The light coming in from skylight suggested any time between six and nine, as it was white and foggy outside. He contemplated getting back in bed, but he was never really one to go back to sleep once he was awake. It was a perfect time to go exploring, he reasoned, if the castle was asleep and he was alone. So, dressing silently, he slipped out the door and into the common room, then past the concealed entry and down the hallway. He twisted the ring on his finger, drawing comfort from the silver. The sword would need to stay hidden, but knowing it was there gave him some small comfort. Of course, he wasn't accounting for the blades at his waist and up his sleeves and just about everywhere else concealable. Those were small; knives, daggers, meant for intimidation and minor wounds should the need arise. His sword was a weapon for severing souls from bodies. A blade for killing.

He entered the main hall and made quickly for his last point of study; before a sudden snippet of last night's conversation returned to him.

_The third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds, _was what Dumbledore had said, and for a second Nico couldn't quite believe it. Had Dumbledore really told him exactly where the object of his search was? There was no harm in trying, so Nico carefully walked up the twisting, moving staircases until he reached the third floor. He could have shadow traveled, but the portraits had eyes, and he didn't need anybody knowing about his abilities just yet. So, after taking the conventional route, he methodically studied the third floor corridor. This didn't take very long, as there were only two doors, and one of them was locked. Deciding to start with the obvious, he slipped a knife between the door and the wall and felt for the bolt. He had picked up a few things from the Hermes Cabin, and in a few seconds the door swung open. At first, Nico had difficulty believing what he was seeing. Not because it was a terrific sight, he had seen it many times before, but never had he imagined that this particular monster would crop up here, of all places. How… ironic. Anybody else would have been frightened off, but Nico was a child of Hades, and the dog was a child of Cerberus. Really, it was only a puppy, but it seemed to mistrust him. Clearly trained well to guard the trapdoor at it feet, the tree heads sniffed him thoroughly before all of its ears perked up. Nico knew why: he smelled like home. The dog was now thrilled, and, tongues lolling out, gave an excited whimper and wagged its tail. Nico smiled; there was something about a happy dog that just cheers people up. Of course, he would need to get through that trapdoor. The dog could not have been the only obstacle, he reasoned, but now was not the time. He closed the door behind him, much to the puppy's dismay. Nico had spent about an hour finding and examining the room, and now the castle had woken and its inhabitants were moving around. Nico quickly went back the way he had come and joined the crowd of students on their way to breakfast.

For the next few days Nico was busy enough blending in that he hadn't revisited the puppy on the third floor. His classes were boring, and since he couldn't openly talk to Draco, he had to sit through them in silence. However, the ones he shared with the Gryffindors were more amusing. More than once it nearly came to blows between Draco and Harry Potter, and Nico found this to be highly entertaining. Draco was really better at the insults than he ought to be; though, Nico reasoned, he had had enough practice with the Ares campers last August. Potions was definitely interesting as the professor tormented Harry about not having solid knowledge of the course. Nico was terrible at making potions; it really wasn't his thing. He knew that it had something to do with bloodlines, but he couldn't figure out who the goddess of cooking was, so he sort of pretended to make the potion without really touching anything. He was lucky that Neville's cauldron blew up when it did, because Snape was about to check on his nonexistent potion. He managed to get by without doing the work, and he left the class quickly. Other than that, the classes were fairly simple; all he had to do was manipulate the mist and convince the teachers that he was actually performing the spells. He cut the one class taught by the ghost, and had been for the most part avoiding ghosts ever since his one encounter with the Slytherin ghost. That was an explanation he'd rather not have to give. The next Monday Nico was greeted by a particularly unpleasant bit of news; flying lessons would start on Thursday. He met Draco's eye for a moment as they had a second of privacy at the notice board. It was fine for Draco, his father flew every day, and flying for him was like second nature. Nico's father, on the other hand, was more the stay-on-the-ground type. And there was no chance that Nico would go into the air, under any circumstances.

Tuesday and Wednesday passed by much too quickly for Nico's liking, and when he reached the location of the flying lesson, he felt his stomach drop. The broomsticks lay on the ground, twenty of them, and Nico knew that they meant trouble. The Gryffindors arrived shortly after, and Nico noticed Neville looking very pale and shaky. Flying really wasn't his thing, either. The two groups mingled for a minute, and Nico and Neville stood near the back. Nico murmured to Neville out of the side of his mouth.

"Do you have a plan?" he asked, and Neville nodded.

"Get it over with fast," he muttered, "I'm going to start before everyone, fall, and hopefully be injured enough to get out of it for the rest of the time."

Nico nodded. If he were lucky, Neville would be enough of a distraction for the teacher to get him out of flying. However, there then grew another problem. As the teacher told them to mount their brooms, Nico couldn't force himself to do it. He had already been in a boat, and he seemed rather close to doing the second thing on his things-I-never-want-to-do list. A Madame Hooch, the teacher, came up to ask him why he wouldn't get on his broom, Nico caught Neville's eye and sent him a pleading look. Neville, his face ashen, seemed to set his jaw and he kicked off into the air. The teacher was adequately distracted, and Neville ended up with a broken wrist. Nico was relieved, but he knew Draco would do anything to get into the air now that it seemed he wouldn't get the chance after all. Sure enough, soon both he and Harry were hovering above their heads, Harry as natural on the broomstick as Draco. Nico watched as the object of their argument, a glass ball, soared through the air and Harry dove to catch it. Nico sent up a brief prayer that he wasn't in the air and watched as, while everyone else had their eyes on Harry, Draco used the distraction to do loops and flips, grinning wildly. In all the excitement of the catch, and McGonagall coming and taking Harry, nobody noticed Draco speeding around near the tops of the trees. He landed quietly, hair windswept, looking as though he had had the time of his life. Nico rolled his eyes, but didn't comment. The teacher was coming back, and Nico quickly slipped away lest she attempt to finish the lesson. He was back in the castle, reveling in his solitude, and he decided to use the rest of free period to go back and see the dog again. The puppy was more than happy to see him, but Nico could only give it his attention for a minute. He then pulled open the trapdoor and looked into the gloom. He had good vision in the dark, but this was too black for him to see. He scowled, and then ran a quick experiment. He could shadow travel in and out of the room, so he shrugged, held his breath, and jumped. After a long fall, he landed on some soft, squishy substance. Which immediately tried to strangle him. Tentacles wrapped around his legs and arms, and he realized that it was a plant. As the creeping feelers started to wrap their way around his neck, he melted into the shadows and in a moment was back with the puppy. That plant… Nico knew he had seen it before, but where? He tried to find the memory, but couldn't get a hold on it. He left the puppy whining for play behind him, and casually joined the rest of the Slytherins as they came in. Draco looked at him, questioning in his eyes, but didn't comment.

One week later, despite all of the times Nico had put it off, he had to Iris message Percy. He waited until History of Magic, the class he usually skipped, to head to the boy's bathroom on the third floor. He hung a hastily made out of order sign on the door and went straight to the sinks. Pulling a pack of gum from his pocket, he stuck a piece over the faucet and turned on the water. The tap was blocked well enough to make a spray that, when hit with the light from the windows made a rainbow. Tossing two Drachma in, trying to compensate for the long distance, Nico sent up a prayer to Iris. It took slightly longer than usual, but the image of Percy lounging by the lake at camp in the early hours of the morning soon appeared. He jumped up at first, startled, but when he saw it was Nico, he grinned.

"Nico! Where have you been? I haven't seen you since the week after the war!"

"I had to do a job for my dad, but I'll be back soon," Nico grinned. He had forgotten how cool Percy was to him, even after all he had done.

"So, what's up? Where'd that job take you?"

"Well, that's what I needed to talk to you about," Nico paused, wondering how his friend would react.

"I sort of need your help."

"Okay, what do you need? Where are you? I can come right now."

"Well, I'm kind of not in the country. Like _really_ not in the country."

Percy frowned. "Okay, I'll take Mrs. O'Leary. What do you need, anyways?"

"I ran into some… friends of yours over here. The only way I could stick to the mission was to cross this merman-infested lake, and they didn't take too kindly to me. They asked me if I'd heard of you, and I said yes, and they wanted to meet you. As in threatened to capsize the boat wanted to meet you."

Percy laughed, "Alright, tell me where to go. I'd like to meet these friends of yours."

"Friends is a bit of a stretch," Nico muttered darkly, "Tell Mrs. O'Leary to come to Hogwarts. She'll know where to find me, but this trip will really exhaust her. Might take a while before she's ready to get back."

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit."

The Iris message disconnected, leaving Nico in a fairly good mood. It would be good to see Percy; all of this Magic stuff was driving him up the wall.

An hour later, Nico waited at a tree by the lake as he felt the shadow fluctuate. There was a sudden draw, followed by the appearance of Mrs. O'Leary, Percy sitting on her back. He slipped off, and she stumbled before falling asleep right there on the ground. Ncio shifted his weight, stepping away from the tree he had been leaning on. It was about four in the afternoon, and the lake was glittering spectacularly in the sun. Percy grinned.

"Hey, how've you been?" he asked, shaking Nico's hand.

"I'm doing okay. You really shouldn't be here though, so we might have to hurry."

Percy nodded, scanning the lake carefully. He smiled,

"Okay, I see them. I'll be back in a minute." He then moved about ten yards to the right to take a running leap into the lake, flipping into a dive at the last second. There was a splash, and then Nico waited. And waited. And waited. About forty minutes later, Percy emerged and swan to the shore, grinning. He stepped out of the water, perfectly dry, and Nico marveled at his ability to do that, though, of course, the sight wasn't new to him.

"Man, they sure are persistent. Didn't think you'd keep your word, and they had about a billion problems. Dang." Despite his complaints, it was clear Percy had enjoyed himself. They hung out for another hour by the tree until Mrs. O'Leary woke up. They talked a lot about old times and what was happening back at camp, though Nico was careful to avoid discussing his job here. He didn't feel like having that spread around. Percy mentioned Annabeth a lot, it was clear that they spent every minute they could together, but Annabeth was busy on Olympus. Nico smiled a little at that, and wondered if Percy realized how much Percy knew about the reconstruction projects. He was starting to sound like Annabeth a little bit, going into depth about the different temples and such. Just then, however Mrs. O'Leary woke up. Nico couldn't say he was sorry for the distraction, but he was sorry his friend had to go. He went back up to the dormitory after Percy had gone, pleased with the events of the day. He fell into an easy sleep, his dreams filled with memories of old times.


	4. The Worst and Shortest chapter to date

**Worst chapter so far, in my opinion. Everyone is in a constant state of confusion, its short, and it has very little to do with the plot. Don't ask me _why_ Nico goes southern in the middle, trust me when I say I meant to rewrite that part, but got caught up in other things. Sorry for that outrageous burst of OOC. Other than that, this really doesn't do much in the descriptive department. Who's the teacher? What hallway could he have run down? Why didn't anybody notice him slipping away? Why the sudden p.o.v. change? Whats the big deal here? **

**No Idea why this chapter in particular is so terrible. Next update Monday. Here goes:**

**Previously: Nico went back up to the dormitory after Percy had gone, pleased with the events of the day. He fell into an easy sleep, his dreams filled with memories of old times.**

Days went by, then weeks, and before Nico knew it, it was Halloween. He had revisited the trapdoor twice, but he couldn't get past the plant. Others had been coming as well, the puppy was angry and restless the second time, but Nico knew they hadn't gotten past him yet. On Halloween night, something was wrong. There was an odd scent in the castle, an evil smell.

_Monster_, Nico categorized. He had two options: go to the feast and wait for whatever it was to find him, or go find it and kill it before it did any real damage. He wanted very badly to just wait, but if it attacked him in the great hall there'd be too many witnesses. So Nico broke away from the group and climbed the stairs. The instant he hit the top, the smell came over him. To his right, a shadow crawled along the wall. Nico grinned. He hadn't had a good fight in a while. He was about to step out and confront it, but a teacher ran down the Hallway, so Nico slipped back into an alcove and waited until the coast was clear. He stepped out, but the monster had already gone. Now there were screams from the hall; that teacher must have seen the monster and reported it. Nico followed the monster at a distance, waiting for it to turn and sense him. The noise from the hall intensified, and Nico looked over his shoulder to see panicked students being led to their common rooms. He was a little confused; it was too soon for the feast to have let out, but if they knew the beast was in the school, why would they put students in its path? He didn't have time to question, however, because soon the monster turned down a side corridor. Nico was even more confused, shouldn't it have sensed him by now? However, it seemed to be headed somewhere in particular. Another Half-blood? Entirely possible, but all of the students were at the feast. Nico supposed there was someone he didn't know about, because the monster was on a mission. Nico had a full view of it now, gray, lumpy, twelve feet tall, and altogether revolting. He stayed quiet as it went through an open door, and followed it into the bathroom. The girl's bathroom, he noted, and then he saw what the troll had been so intent on finding. Not that it was hard to find her, she let out a terrified scream as the troll approached. Nico paused for a second.

_She's a half-blood?_ He thought in disbelief, but then he was distracted. Someone had slammed and locked the door shut.

Hermione was in the corner, and she shrieked, the noise echoing around the bathroom. Whoever had locked the door had obviously heard her scream, and the locked clicked open. In ran Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. At first they looked incredibly confused, staring at Nico, but then they saw Hermione in the corner. The troll was knocking the sinks off the walls, and Harry and Ron seemed to be trying to gain its attention by throwing things. Nico would have rolled his eyes if he thought it would do him any good, but his sword was already extending from his hand. The noise that the other two boys made was sufficient to make the troll turn in confusion, which Nico gathered was its regular state of being. The troll paid no mind, not that it had much to spare, to Harry and Ron, he had now seen Nico. However powerful a half-blood Hermione might have been, not that Nico thought this likely, she would be hard pressed to compete with Nico for the troll's attention. Despite the monster's lack of brains, it obviously knew what a sword was. It let out a mighty roar, and charged Nico. Nico, having anticipated the attack, sidestepped agilely, and brought his sword swishing up in an arc, cutting a severe gash in the Troll's leg. However, he did not disintegrate. Stygian iron didn't work quite the same way as celestial bronze. It was equally deadly, but Nico's blow had been glancing and he needed a more solid strike. The troll was not happy about the gash in its leg, so it charged again. Nico knew it would be preoccupied with his sword, but it swung its club. Poor decision on the Troll's part as it rendered him off balance. Nico developed a hasty plan, and sliced across his arm. As expected, the troll straightened and puffed out his chest, roaring angrily at the ceiling. Nico wasted no time and promptly hurled one of his daggers at its heart. With a tremendous crash, the troll fell backwards and didn't move.

Nico saw that the areas around the slices were slowly starting to dissolve, so he walked to the edge of the body and retrieved his knife. He cleaned his sword, and then became aware of the three wizards that were staring at him in awe. Well, the two boys were. Hermione didn't seem to be up to doing much of anything at the moment; she was still sitting against the wall, shaking. Nico decided that that was the most important question that needed to be answered, but when he grasped her hand and pulled her to her feet, there was no sign that they were related. As far as he could see, she wasn't a half-blood. Then why did the troll target her? She shouldn't have been a priority, not when there were ten highly potent demigods in the Great Hall. If she wasn't a demigod…

"Are those your robes?" Nico asked, trying to establish some grounds by which the troll had picked up her scent. Hermione was shaken, but she managed a confused look.

"No- no they're Lavender's. I- I borrowed them." She said, "why?"

"No reason," Nico murmured, and he turned away. After the clamor and noise of the fight, the silence seemed eerie. Ron broke it.

"How- h- how did- you just killed it!"

Nico nodded carefully. This could cause problems, and he needed to be cautious.

"How did you do that?" Harry asked, "Where did you get that sword?"

Nico looked perplexed, or so he hoped. "What sword?"

"That- That- where did it go?" Harry asked, and sure enough the sword was gone. Harry stared at Nico's hand, bewildered. The skull ring caught his eye, and Harry frowned. He was certain it had been silver earlier, but now it was scarlet. He looked at Ron, who hadn't seen the ring, and then looked back at Nico's hand. Perhaps it had just been a trick of the light, because it was black to plain silver. All was quiet for a second, and then there was a chorus of voices as the teachers finally caught on. The door crashed open and they all ran in, wands ready. McGonagall was staring at them, anger scrawled across her face, as Snape examined the troll and Quirrel looked ready to faint.

"You four," she snapped, and Nico looked her straight in the eye, "what on earth were you thinking? You're lucky you weren't all killed! Why aren't you in your Dormitory?"

Ron and Harry both looked at Nico, who thought for a second. He could always mist it over in a minute, so he decided to have some fun.

"Well you see professor, I was on my way to the dormitory, but I got lost."

"You got lost?" she repeated cryptically.

"Yes, ma'am. It's mighty difficult to get through these corridors and all. I saw the Troll in the hallway, see, and I saw it chasing after the lovely lady over there." Nico was having a blast playing up the southern accent, trying to sound as American as possible.

"I couldn't just let her fight the troll on her own, and she didn't have any weapon that I could see, so I went after them, and used my dagger to cut him up all nice and good."

At this point, everyone in the room was staring at Nico, eyes wide.

"So then my two buddies showed up, and they helped to pull the lady up. Shaken real well, she was. I guess they'd heard the noise or something and thought we was in trouble. The little miss over there was screamin' something awful, but we got her calmed down now. I 'pologize for all the commotion." Nico, having had his fun, snapped his fingers, concentrating the mist.

"I was lost in the crowd and must have made a wrong turn, and then it cornered me in here. I saw it and stabbed it with my dagger. The other three showed up later, they heard me shout."

Everybody's eyes glazed over, and McGonagall nodded. "Yes, I suppose that you should get to bed then."

Nico, thrilled with the turnout of the night, was almost out of the room when somebody said something.

"Wait!" Snape said, "Mr. Di Angelo, why did you have a Dagger?"

Nico froze, trying to come up with something.

"Well?" Snape asked, "What were you doing with the dagger?"

"I- I have a habit of carrying weapons with me. Just in case, you know?"

"Why did you think you would need weapons at Hogwarts?" McGonagall asked.

"I-um- we used them at my old school?" Nico hedged, praying they bought it.

"Well, I'm going to have to confiscate them," Snape said, holding out his hand, "all of them."

Nico hesitated, then scowled and pulled out the dagger he had used on the troll. He pulled another from his belt and one from his sleeve. In total, he gave Snape about a third of the knives he had on him, not counting his sword. Snape nodded, and Nico left quickly. The knives he picked to hand out weren't random, they were his favorite. They also had this habit of returning to their sheaths whenever they could. He felt the weight slowly add to his belt within a few minutes, and all three knives had returned to their places. Nico smiled and went to the Slytherin dorm, where he promptly fell asleep.

In the girl's bathroom by the Great Hall, nobody noticed the body of the Troll crumble into dust.


	5. THIS is the shortest chapter to date

**Yes, yes, another short chapter. To all of my wonderful reviewers who _signed in_, thank you and your comments are appreciated. To "Oh Dear," who saw fit to leave me a 13 word review asking me to do something that I still have… I think it's 8 hours left to do, thank for that not-so-gentle reminder of something that I was about to do anyways. Sheesh, I'm home for five minutes and somebody who _isn't_ my mother is nagging me. Jeez, people, give me a break. I said I'd update Monday, and there are another four-hundred and eighty minutes of Monday left. Okay, so here it is. It should probably take you between two and four minutes to read, and it is the second to last chapter. The sequel, unfortunately, is still in the preliminaries, so it could take between a month and a year to get that really going. In the meantime, I might post a few tidbits. This week is the last week, though. Friday marks the end of the story. For now. Well, get going. The author's note is longer than the story itself. Sad, no?**

**Previously: In the girl's bathroom by the Great Hall, nobody noticed the body of the Troll crumble into dust.**

The next day, Nico managed to get Draco alone.

"I found one," he said, cutting straight to it.

"Really?" Draco's eyes lit up, "Where?"

"Gryffindor. Name's Lavender. She's the reason the troll attacked the Granger girl—she had borrowed her robes."

Draco nodded, thinking it over. "I'll talk to Neville, see if he knows her at all. Unless, of course, you want to?"

Nico smiled at Draco's half-hearted attempt to pull him into this.

"I have to concentrate, Draco. Good luck." Nico walked away, leaving Draco just a little disappointed behind him.

The weather started to get colder and colder, and about two weeks into November, Potions became Nico's favorite class. Not because he particularly enjoyed the subject, but because he welcomed the warmth of twenty boiling cauldrons. One day, however, Nico was having a particularly difficult potions lesson, but luckily the steam rising in the room and he was able to use it as a cover from Snape. Unfortunately, the potion they were making glowed, causing the steam to be lit up just perfectly. So, when the Iris message came in, it was the size of the wall and perfectly clear. His dad was lounging on his throne, and Nico imagined that he was using the fountain in the center of the throne room to make the rainbow. This gave the _entire_ potions class a full body view of the Devil himself. Needless to say, nearly everybody screamed. The three that didn't were Nico, Draco, and Neville, though the latter had gone very pale. Snape was surprised as well, and he glared at Nico. At the moment, however Nico wasn't really paying attention to that.

"Hey," he said casually, stirring his potion. He looked up at his father. "You rang?"

Hades didn't seem to be in the laughing mood, and the reason for that quickly became apparent.

"Nico! Where are you and _why _haven't you come to visit yet?" Persephone stalked in and glared at the Iris message from her throne.

"I'm bored out of my _mind_ and _somebody_ won't tell me where you went!"

"Sorry Seph," Nico said, "If he can't, I don't think I can. Quite frankly, he's better at the glares than you are."

It was true, Hades was glaring daggers at the both of them, and compared to that, Persephone looked calm.

"Don't you look at me like that!" she said, seeing Hades' expression, "Its not my fault that you send him off on a quest and forget to tell me about it."

Hades shrugged, "I had a lot on my mind. Besides, you came early. I was too busy at the time, but I would have gotten to it eventually."

"I came early for one reason and one reason only!" Persephone snarled, "To get away from my mother!"

"Yeah, and that didn't work very well, now did it?" Hades grumbled, "She claimed that since you were still under her custody, she could come down too."

"That's right, dearest brother O mine." Demeter said, coming into the image.

"I still don't know how you managed to get that past him," Hades muttered darkly.

Demeter grinned, "He owed me a favor. Now, who are you talking to?" She looked into the iris message, where Nico had gone back to making the potion. He was the only one; the rest of the class was still gaping at the image.

"Oh, its just the kid. What was his name? Nero? Nemo?"

Nico rolled his eyes and focused on his father, "So, what did you want?"

"Nico. It's been nearly three months! _What_ is taking so long?"

"Well, it hasn't just been lying around for the taking, now has it? I just need to pass this one- wait, what's that?" Nico was looking in shock at Persephone, who was having a quiet conversation with her mother as Nico and Hades talked. She was stroking a plant- a wriggling ball of tentacles that snaked around her until she slapped them away.

"That?" Hades asked, "Its just some plant. Is important?"

"I'd say so, considering it guards that thing we were discussing. It doesn't like me at all, and it's immune to my sword. How do I get rid of it?"

"How should I know?" Hades asked irritably, "I'm not the nature one. Persephone!"

Persephone turned, annoyed. "What do you want?"

"Such poor manners!" Demeter scolded in the background. Hades ignored her.

"That plant thing you've got,"

"His name is Tendicula," Persephone said, looking insulted.

Hades glowered, "Whatever you call it, if you want to get past it how would you do it?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because its delaying Nico."

"He better not kill one of Tendicula's cousins." Persephone warned.

"Do you want him to come back or not? What are the weaknesses of the plant?" Hades asked, his eyes beginning to smolder.

"Well, he hates sunlight," she said crossly, and Demeter scoffed.

"Then it should live forever down here."

Hades looked offended, "Not if I can help it, Sister."

"See that, Seph? He tries to take away the only things that make you happy!"

Hades ignored her, with a little effort this time. "There. See? Now it should only take a few more weeks. I need you back by Winter Solstice, I have another job for you."

"Yes, sir. See you at solstice, Seph," Nico said, and Persephone scowled.

"Hurry up, Nico! I need _somebody_ to talk to!"

"Yeah, I'll do my best." Nico said, and he swiped his hand through a portion of the mist. It distorted the light enough to cancel the message, and the room was silent. Everyone was staring in shock at the wall, excepting Draco and Nico. The blonde leaned in close and whispered to Nico.

"Damn. I thought _my_ family had problems," he muttered, and Nico shrugged.

"You should see them on a bad day. Honestly, Persephone was almost cheerful for her."

Draco sighed sympathetically. Nico turned back to the potion, and looked up to find Snape standing there, glaring. Nico's potion was a bright, luminescent yellow that lit up Snape's face, making him look ill. Nico was struck by a sudden idea, and he carefully ladled out the glowing potion into a mason jar that had previously held dried roots. Nico noticed that the sample of the concoction grew brighter, and he assumed that the powder at the bottom of the jar had stimulated it somehow. He set the jar on the table before turning to face Snape.


	6. When All is Said and Done, There's More

Four hours and quite a bit of mist-manipulation later, Nico made his way to the third floor unhindered, the jar of glowing liquid sitting in his pocket. He leapt down the trapdoor with ease and landed in the plant. He tried once more to shadow travel to the stone passageway with no success, before he pulled out the glowing jar. It was bright enough that Nico had to shield his eyes a little bit, and the stupid plant cringed away from both him and the jar. Nico, still scowling at the plant, continued onward. Up ahead there was a fluttering, clinking noise. Nico studied the next room. There was a heavy wooden door, whose key was clearly flying around the room. There was absolutely _no _chance he would catch it, not if it meant flying, so he studied the door instead. He supposed it wouldn't let him shadow-travel through, but there was no harm in trying. To his surprise and relief, he found himself on the other side of the door. He wondered why it hadn't worked in the first room, and he reasoned it must've had something to do with the plant. Natural things like plants had this tendency to limit his powers a little.

He took in the next room in silence. There in front of him stood an enormous chessboard. The black pieces were on his side, the white on the other. Obviously the intended purpose was that whoever sought the stone would have to play their way across, but Nico didn't have time for that. He looked at the white pieces- they were clearly charmed to look white, while they were of the same rock as the black pieces- obsidian. Nico grinned, stepping onto a black square in front of the black pieces. He concentrated, and the stone figures burst into dust. That done, he casually walked across the board and opened the next door. Behind him, the pieces were slowly gluing themselves back together, but it would take them quite a long time to recover. He shut the door and looked… up.

There, in the center of the room, was another troll. This one was considerably larger than the first, but appeared to have about half the intelligence. Nico rolled his eyes and stabbed it once, twice, three times before knocking it on the head and leaving it to die. It had barely noticed his arrival before it went down.

The next room involved, to Nico's extreme displeasure, fire and potions. A long table sat in the middle of the room, with an assortment of bottles in the center. Lying near them was a piece of parchment with what were clearly instructions. He ignored them and headed straight for the door, but black fire sprung up in his path. He turned to see that the other door had been blocked as well. Resigned, Nico picked up the parchment and scowled. It was written in an abrupt, cramped style with a few loops where the tails of "g's" and "y's" curled on the page. Yes. Because it wasn't hard enough to have to figure out what the stupid potions were, now Nico couldn't even read the instructions of what to do. He tried to decipher the lettering, but it twisted and flipped, so he threw it down, frustrated. Well, if the paper wouldn't help him, he would have to look at the challenge itself. It was obvious what he had to do; one of the bottles contained a potion that would help him to get through the fire blocking the door. He turned to the bottles, and tried to decide which would let him move onward. Obviously they were different, so Nico carefully picked up a tall bottle second from the right and sniffed it. Alcohol and something sweet- wine. He put it carefully back where it had started and cautiously sniffed the one in the same spot on the opposite end. Wine as well. Nico smelled the one furthest to the left and was light-headed for a moment- that one would either be a strong sedative or poison, and he would stay well away from it. He stepped back and looked at the table objectively. There were seven bottles. He had identified two containing wine and one that held poison or the like. They were all sorts of shapes and sizes- the largest was the tall one with the wine on the right, and the smallest a little dark blue bottle three from the left. He had eliminated three bottles- that left four that could either help him or kill him. Wonderful. In vain he lifted the parchment again, squinting at it and trying to decipher the swirling writing, before suddenly he thought of something. Obviously if someone able to read had come into the room, the ones protecting the stone would want to give them the least chance of finding it as possible, particularly if they had come with accomplices. Therefore, they would give the seeker the smallest amount of potion possible so as to render him alone in the coming challenges. Nico looked at the little blue bottle in a new light. It was his best shot- he pulled out the cork and sniffed it cautiously. It had no scent- but that didn't mean it wasn't poisonous. He carefully set it down and looked at the bottles again. He pulled the stopper out of the one on the far right, and it had no scent either. Concerned now, Nico went down the line and smelled each potion- two made him dizzy, in addition to the one he already knew. Two were wine, and that left the two without scent for him to consider. The rounded one held enough potion for at least ten people, the blue one barely a swallow. He hesitated for half a second before downing it in one gulp. Ice flooded his body, but he didn't seem to be dying. He didn't pause this time and walked straight through the black fire. He made it through unscathed, and congratulated himself on his success. Victory only lasted a moment, he had to hurry before anybody noticed that he was gone and realized where he would be. It had taken him at least an hour to get through that room, and he didn't have time to spare.

He emerged from the hallway into what he hoped would be the last room, and sure enough, there in the center, was a small podium with a blood-red stone sitting in the middle. Nico frowned. It really couldn't be that easy, could it? Could he really just walk up and take the object that had caused him so much difficulty, so many problems? He was doubly cautious as he approached the podium, taking each step with care. Every second, He expected to breach an invisible boundary and unleash a host of new challenges. He was oddly disappointed when the reached out his hand and touched the stone. He lifted it, expecting it not to come, but it did and he put it in his pocket. As soon as it left his hand, there was an almighty roar. Flames shot up around the room, and Nico could see that it was not just a ring of flames, but a field, a plain of fire blocking his exit, presumably to hold him there until someone could come and apprehend him. Nico smiled. Whoever had designed this, he thought as he sank into the cool embrace of the shadows, had not had Demigods in mind. He reappeared in the dormitory, the stone still in his pocket. He really was very pleased with himself; it was almost dinnertime. One of the boys in his dorm, whose name he had never bothered to find out, came in.

"Nico," he said, "aren't you coming to dinner?"

Nico nodded and made his way to the great hall. He would spend one more night here, and then he could finally go home. And, with over a month until solstice, maybe he could spend a little time catching up with his friends. He was settling in at the Slytherin table, the stone confidently in his pocket, and had barely started to eat when the _entire freaking ceiling_ lit up. He hadn't been paying attention to the cloudy sky, it was just another foggy day, but now it would be _really_ hard not to pay attention to it. He knew Iris would be tired- He was in England, after all, but he didn't think she was the lazy type. More appropriately, his dad was probably being cheap and hadn't paid her the long distance rate. Either way, the throne room image that had appeared in the potions classroom was now taking up the entire ceiling. Connection was poor, but despite the image cutting in and out, he could still hear Hades perfectly.

"Yes?"

"Nico! Have you got it yet?" Hades asked, sounding rushed.

"Yes, I've got it. Why?"

"There's been a change in plans. I need you back by tomorrow at the latest, with the object."

"Yes sir. I'll be there by tomorrow. Any details?"

"Not here. I will inform you when you get back." Hades said, before muttering something about his stupid brother and his stupid deadlines. Nico distinctly heard him say,

"We're immortal, what's the rush?" before the image disconnected. Nico, though already tired, drew as much energy as he could to open the shadow portal. He was going to pay for traveling so much in one day, that much was certain, he thought as he wearily jumped into the shadows. He focused on his cabin in camp Half-Blood; he didn't have the strength to make it to Los Angeles tonight. Arriving in his cabin, too tired to be pleased with his accuracy, Nico fell into a deep sleep.

Dumbledore entered the Great hall as Nico left it, and try as he might he couldn't stop him. Dumbledore would have liked to pretend it was coincidence, that just as the stone was stolen Nico was gone, but he couldn't get himself to believe it. The boy had apparated out of the hall, or so it had appeared to the teachers, after having a conversation with a man in the sky. A very evil-looking, foreboding man, as it were, with mad eyes and pale skin, who commanded Nico in a way that had everyone nervous. Deeply troubled, Dumbledore paced in his study. If the man Nico had spoken to was indeed lord Voldemort and Nico had taken the stone to him, then they were in a very bad position. However, if the man was just another greedy person who had wanted the stone for his own gain, then they were in a slightly less bad position. And yet, the idea of another immortal enemy frightened Dumbledore in ways he couldn't admit. The rest of the term was spent without sign of Nico Di Angelo, and as the days passed to weeks and months, eventually the buzz surrounding his disappearance died down. Dumbledore was not reassured that he had gone forever, but then with the troubling start of the next year and the reopening of the chamber of secrets, the Philosopher's stone was put to the back of his mind, to be pondered over in rare moments when he had nothing else to think of. That was, at least, until a sudden event four years later brought it to the forefront of his mind.

**Okay, It was slightly late. Big Deal. That was, yes, the end of the story. There is a sequel currently in the making, not sure how long that will take. It has several alternate beginnings, which I will post when I see fit until the real version is at least half-way done. You know how when you get a new book you're kind of obsessive over it until you see how it ends? That was what happened to me this week: I got Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence in the mail and couldn't put it down. Fascinating story, and that was what I was doing when I should have been posting this. The next installment, aka the first discarded segment of Nico goes to Hogwarts part deux should be up sometime this weekend. **

**In the style of Porky Pig: "A Th-Th-Th-Th- That's All, Folks!"**


	7. And now, the end of the beginning

**I've decided to post the last, final chapter of Puppy Dog Tales. I think it's the first one I ever wrote, and it will serve as a prologue to the sequel, _Going, Going, Going, and Coming Back_. However, this will only give you a very small and highly inaccurate glimpse of what is to come. You will notice that none of our characters recognise Nico or vice versa. This is not a trick of the mist, my friends, this story was written before PDT and therefore is not compatable with the plotline of either the original or the sequel. However, you have a vague setting and general line of what is to come. **

**here you go, one last time.**

Page 185, 8th paragraph, the order of the phoenix

The other occupant of the carriage was a boy Harry had never seen before, though he looked to be about fifteen. His hair and clothes were black like a shadow at midnight, and when he glanced at the new additions to the compartment, Harry saw that his eyes were barely a shade lighter than his clothes. He looked up at them, and stood.

"Hello," he said, but he looked as though he was annoyed at having to act civil.

"Hi," Harry said, a little confused by his attitude, "I'm Harry Potter."

"Nico Di Angelo. So… you're the infamous Harry Potter." Nico scrutinized Harry, and was seemingly unimpressed. He frowned slightly before turning to Neville. Harry looked down at himself worriedly, and couldn't help but notice that Nico Di Angelo was much more muscular than he. And Harry didn't like the way Ginny was looking at him. He watched as Nico looked at Neville with an equal amount of boredom. However, as he shook Neville's hand his eyes brightened with interest and he smiled carefully.

"Sorry, I didn't get your name," he said, still looking at Neville incredulously.

"I'm Neville Longbottom," Neville said uncertainly, clearly disconcerted by the attention Nico was giving him.

"Frank's son?" Nico asked, seeming somewhat surprised. He glanced at Harry for some reason, as Neville mumbled an affirmative.

"It really is a pleasure to meet you. We have so much to discuss, though," Nico added in an undertone, "we should really wait until we are in more, ah, respectable company." He glanced toward Harry again. If either Ginny or Neville found this odd, they didn't comment and simply sat down across from Harry, next to Nico, who had taken the corner. Harry and Neville talked for a bit, then the food trolley arrived, pausing the conversation. The Nico boy was staring out the window and didn't eat anything, though they offered a few times. Eventually, Ron and Hermione showed up. Ron came in, complaining loudly, about the prefect meeting. He had gone halfway through a pumpkin pasty before he noticed Nico, sitting in his dark little corner. Jumping and cursing loudly, Ron asked, "Who the bloody hell is that?"

"Nico di Angelo," said the aforementioned boy, "and since when is Hell bloody?" Choosing to ignore the second part of Nico's response, Ron kept going.

"Well, what are you doing here?"

"The same as everyone else, obviously. I'm going to school." Nico seemed unfazed by Ron's sharp attitude; he answered coldly and calmly with a hint of sarcasm.

"What house are you in? I've never seen you before." Ron relentlessly attacked.

"I haven't been sorted; I'm a transfer student from America."

"I didn't know Hogwarts took Transfer students," Hermione said.

"They don't." replied Nico, "Hogwarts doesn't _know_ that they're getting a transfer student. I'm just… showing up."

"Good luck getting past Dumbledore," said Ron, "He probably already knows you're here."

"Somehow," said Nico coldly, "I really doubt that." With those sentiments, he stood up and walked out of the compartment without another word.

"Odd," commented Ron, "he better not cross me now that I'm a prefect. Speaking of which," and Ron continued to describe the prefect's meeting until Nico returned and sat down in his seat.

"Where'd you go then?" Ron asked sharply. Nico looked at him, annoyed.

"The _bathroom_. Duh."

"oh," replied Ron, looking chastised. Just then, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle came in.

"what?" asked Harry roughly. Nico leaned back into the shadows that gathered around him despite the bright sunlight from the window. This, he reasoned, would be interesting.

"Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you detention," drawled the new addition to the room's already crowded décor. After exchanging some less-than-witty insults, in Nico's opinion, Malfoy finally noticed Nico in his corner. Nico, bored with the whole idiotic argument, decided to mess with the 'prefect.'

"Who's that?" asked Malfoy maliciously, "made another mudblood friend, Potter?"

In Nico's opinion, this was a very poor choice of words on Malfoy's part. Nico's bloodlines were as pure as you could get, which he decided to share with Malfoy. He stood up, gathering the shadows around his form and giving Malfoy a glare that nearly rivaled that of the devil. Of course, the devil had trained him, but that was mostly unimportant. This clearly unnerved the blonde, as he slyly repositioned himself behind Crabbe and Goyle. Intensifying his glare, Nico said, "What was that about my bloodlines?" in a raspy, powerful voice he had picked up from his father.

It was the voice Hades used whenever he wanted to terrify someone. It worked. Malfoy, fear evident on his face, began with a quaking voice.

"M-my Father…"

"I, unfortunately for you, do not _care_ about your father. He is a poor, worthless specimen of humanity who I could crush in less than a second. Get your filthy, miserable ass out of here. And don't come back."

Malfoy was gone in a second, followed hastily by Crabbe and Goyle. Silence followed their departure from the compartment, with an increased respect for Nico. He sat back down in the corner and stared back out the window, the shadows slowly dissipating. Ron, however, was not willing to let the event pass as readily as Nico seemed to be able to. He burst out laughing.

"That was incredible! Did you see the look on Malfoy's face?" he asked, looking at Nico with admiration, "How did you do that thing with the shadows?"

Nico looked up with what appeared to be pure innocence.

"What thing?" he asked in a sarcastic tone. It was obvious to Harry that the conversation annoyed Nico, but the sarcasm flew right over Ron's head.

"That thing you did where it got all Dark and spooky with the raspy voice!"

Nico just looked at Ron, and the train rumbled to a stop at the Hogsmede station, and he was the first one to leave the compartment as people began to crowd the hallway. He took nothing with him, and Harry noticed that he hadn't stowed anything away. He had no trunk, no belongings, nothing. Following him out the door were Hermione and Ron, who was a bit put out, as they went to go take care of their prefect duties. Finally, Harry, Neville, Luna, and Ginny left, lugging their various pets and suitcases.

Nico exited the train amid a throng of bustling students in black robes. Night had fallen hard, and in the shadows of the tall pine trees Nico blended perfectly. He followed the general flow of students to the carriages. Nico groaned silently as he noticed the thestrals pulling the carriages. They were some child of Hermes' idea of a joke: an animal that brought the qualities of the big three together. Hysterical. It flies, it's a horse, and it relates to the dead. Really. It was just _so_ funny. Either way, he instantly heard the thestrals' voices, each wanting the honor of pulling the carriage of a child of their lord. He moved to a carriage with a female thestral, they were less competitive. Persephone had a few in the stables behind the palace in the underworld. Nico felt a bit silly taking an entire carriage for himself when they were supposed to hold six people, so he settled into a dark corner and blended with the shadows to wait. As he waited, he thought of that boy, Neville Longbottom. Now _there_ was someone worth knowing. He knew Frank Longbottom, the man who had been crucioed to insanity years ago. He had died, been brought back, and died again, before being brought into his current state. It was an interesting case; a small segment of his soul had remained in the underworld. Nico was familiar with it because whenever his dad ran out of things to complain about, he contemplated the murder of Bellatrix Lestrange for throwing that wrench into his perfectly devised system. It had given Hades a few headaches to figure that one out, but now the majority of Frank's spirit was in the mortal world, only a small fraction remained in the underworld.

Nico was shocked slightly by the discovery he had made when he had shook Neville's hand, it would greatly assist him if he played it right. Either way, he had sat in the carriage for almost fifteen minutes, now, and he was about ready to just go when loud voices found their way into the carriage. It was the same people he had ridden on the train with, the idiot redhead, Neville, and the cowardly fool Harry Potter. Nico listened to two of the boys arguing outside the carriage. It seemed Harry had never seen anyone die before this year, as he was obviously wondering what the horses were. Redhead, who Nico assumed was named Ron, couldn't see them. However, as Harry was getting into the carriage, Luna, the blonde girl from the train, let him know that they were real. Guruthel, as Nico learned the thestral's name was, began to pull the carriage. He leaned forward just as Harry sat down and said,

"Well of course they're real." Everybody jumped suddenly at the sound of his voice and turned to look at him except for Luna. Harry looked at him, curious.

"They are?"

"Obviously," Nico replied, unable to keep the sarcastic tone from his voice, "they're thestrals. Luna can see them because of, well, someone, and you can see them because you saw Cedric Diggory die. It really isn't all that complicated." He finished with a distinct air of 'I think you are stupid.'

"Why can you see them then?" asked Harry, seemingly suspicious.

"None of your damn business," Nico said, surprisingly calm for what he was saying. He then faded into the background as Ginny began a different conversation. Guruthel, sensing Nico's impatience, jingled the harness as she sped up. They reached the castle, Nico blending in despite his lack of robes. The all-black attire suited Nico, as he ghosted along behind his new acquaintances.

Unfortunately, an old, grisly man in tattered robes stopped him, yelled at him, and led him down a separate corridor to a gargoyle, which was obviously guarding a passageway. Nico could clearly see the cracks in the floor and the tiny keyhole just to the left of the stone creature, which stood on a worn step. The password was peppermint humbug, apparently, as the old man pushed Nico up the steps toward an Oval room.

Nico was tempted to kill the phoenix sitting on a perch on the desk. His Father had ranted enough times about the birds, how they defied death and therefore defied him, how it was another way for Zeus to mock him and so on. Nico knew how to kill them, but decided against it. He rubbed his sword-skull ring as he sat in the chair indicated to him. Nico was in England for a single, specific purpose, and no old, foolish wizard was going to keep him from achieving his goal. As a child of a god more powerful than Hecate, he was invulnerable to the spells of those gifted by she. Her children, of course, could perform much more advanced and powerful magic than those who attended this school, who had merely been gifted with the talent. However, the 'wizards' here were no match for Nico's abilities.

Nico took this in stride as he branched out his version of magic through the walls to the great hall, where it fed off of the multiple spirits there. Nico could sense each of the ghosts and muttered, 'cowardice' under his breath. They had all chosen to remain in the world of the living after death, rejecting the Underworld and Hades. There was rarely a greater insult, though Nico let it go for now. He could scare the wits out of them later. In the meantime, he sat in the chair and observed the multiple artifacts around the room. After quite a long time, an obscenely old person walked into the room and took a seat on the opposite side of the desk.

"So," he said, "I am Professor Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Who might you be?"

"Nico," Said the boy, clearly keeping his shared information limited. The twinkle in the old headmaster's eyes was annoying Nico to no end, but he made a point of looking at Dumbledore when he spoke.

"Well, Nico, I'm afraid I don't know how you managed to get here," said Dumbledore, choosing to let Nico's lack of information go.

"I took the train. Like everybody else," He replied smoothly, smirking as he did so. If there was one thing Nico had picked up from his father, it was the enjoyment of messing with people's minds.

"Okay, Nico. I think it would be better if you told me a little more about yourself," Dumbledore said.

"Well, here's an idea. How's about you ask the bloody Baron," Nico said, choosing a ghost he knew to be hovering just past Dumbledore's door, "I'm sure he will be most helpful." Nico knew that all dead beings, even those who hadn't left the mortal world, had been to the Underworld and conversed with Hades. They had to ask permission to stay above, of course. Nico twisted his expression into an imitation of the one he knew his father used when dealing with ghosts while Dumbledore asked Filch to fetch the Bloody Baron. Nico felt the ghost's annoyance and confusion at being asked to step into the office, but he did so nonetheless.

"Baron, do you know this boy?" asked Dumbledore. Nico turned to face the ghost, a look of devious cunning on his face. The bloody Baron looked at him for a moment, his pearly white face morphing into an expression of the utmost horror, before he began to gasp his apologies.

"So, so sorry, milord, I didn't mean to- I mean I- My apologies, I didn't- will I- would you forgive me, milord?" he stuttered, nearly quaking with fear. Nico held a look of contempt for a moment longer before replying.

"Baron, you are as worthy a ghost as I have seen today. _Begone, friend, and may you find the peace you were destined for in the afterlife."_ Nico said, adding on the blessing in ancient Greek. He didn't feel the need to add that the Baron was the only ghost he had seen today, and as the Baron drifted off, muttering thanks and apologies, Nico turned to face the headmaster again, his face resuming a blank expression. If Dumbledore was surprised by the ghost's reaction, he was doing a fairly decent job of not showing it.

"Listen," said Nico, annoyed with the time the conversation was taking, "I can promise you that I come here without the intent of injuring any of your students. All you need to know is that I'm an exchange student, I'm not gonna hurt anybody, and I'll be gone by the end of the year. Other than that, I go to class, I eat, I sleep, and I mind my own business."

"Nico, I won't pretend to know why you are here, but you need to be able to perform magic if you are to attend this school. Can you do that?" asked Dumbledore.

In answer, Nico unsheathed his sword, bending the mist around it to shorten it into a wand. He swished it one time and used a tiny part of his natural magic from the godly side of his family to levitate several objects at once, sending them whizzing around the room. It was a simple trick that required very little power, and Nico could have done it with his eyes closed. The objects returned to their original positions as Nico sat down again, his sword twisting back into the skull around his finger. Bending the mist had taken more effort than the actual spell, but neither had worn Nico out as much as shadow traveling did. Dumbledore examined him for a moment, before agreeing to Nico's proposition.

"But," He said, "You will need to be sorted into a house." He summoned the Sorting hat to them and told Nico to put it on. Nico eyed it with distaste. He knew this would be a bad decision, but the old man had told him to put on the hat. He did so, and instantly heard a tiny voice in his head.

_Interesting. Very interesting. You're tricky, I'll grant you that. Sneaky, sly, but brave and smart as well. You would do well in any of the houses… so where to put you? _

Nico grimaced as he recognized the probing touch in his mind, what was at first feather light was now pushing harder, delving into farther reaches of his mind. Well, there are some things people, or hats, shouldn't see. Things that happen in the fields of punishment, for example. It seemed as though the hat had never seen torture before, because it barely brushed into the memories before it withdrew sharply.

_W-wh- what was that? _The hat stuttered to itself. _So much pain and loss, so much courage to face it. "_Gryffindor," The hat said aloud, though Nico could tell it was severely shaken. Well, that was its problem. He pulled it off and handed it to Dumbledore, impassive. The houses system was stupid, in his opinion, though that was one opinion he decided not to share. Standing, he said,

"Well, if that's all, I'll go to the common room."

Dumbledore nodded, still looking concernedly at the hat. Nico exited the office, followed by the disgruntled mortal who brought him in. Maybe this guy got paid by how many punishments he dished out or something, because he looked pissed off. Nico Went upstairs two levels to the Gryffindor ghost, who was wandering around aimlessly on the seventh floor.

"Hello, Nick," Nico said, walking up behind him. The ghost jumped (or, rather, floated) and turned to face Nico. His eyes widened in the same manner as the Baron's had, and he floated closer to study Nico's face. His suspicions seemingly confirmed, he backed away hurriedly and bowed quickly before floating, looking at Nico, nearly quaking with fear.

"H-hello, milord," said the poor ghost, keeping his eyes pointed downward.

"Do you know the password for the Gryffindor common room and it's location?" Nico asked, ignoring the subservient manner and humble approach the ghost took that would have normally annoyed him to no end.

"Yes, milord. This way, Milord," said Nick, leading the Nico through multiple corridors before arriving in front of a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress. Nick mumbled

"The password is mimbulus mimbletonia," before hurriedly moving back. Nico repeated the words to the portrait, which opened. He dismissed Nick and walked through the gaping hole into a small red room, with a cheerful fire and armchairs surrounding tables. It was late enough that everyone had gone to bed, so Nico climbed the stairs to the boys' dorm. There was a door for fifth years, which Nico opened. Four of the five four-poster beds were occupied, so he carefully drew the shadows together around the fifth bed and they materialized into his stuff. Changing quickly, Nico crawled into bed and fell asleep. It had been a long day.

Okay, this isn't a new chapter so much as it is a notice of ending. Like a notice of failure, but not nearly so depressing. This is the last note, or chapter, or update, for the story. I am officially posting the sequel as soon as I finish typing this. The only reason I bothered, really, was because I was in such a good mood yesterday I didn't want it to go unnoticed.

Now, this amazing reviewer just blew my socks off, so I want to address this part directly to them.

**Dear MoonSurfer3343,**

**Oh My God, you are freaking amazing. I couldn't want for a better review. Now, I think I have some explaining to do. See, that chapter wasn't supposed to go up. Ever. It needed to be fixed, edited, like this one has been. I was just so damn pissed off at that reviewer; I had to let them know. I hate it, personally, when Authors make new chapters out of Author's Notes, so I pulled the first thing I could find out of my file and tacked it in front of the Note. So, of course, very little is clearly explained. I hope this is more to your liking, because in my haste with the last chapter of that story I cut it in half on accident. Of course your ideas are not Juvenile. There is a good reason for all of them being there that should be revealed in the next chapter. Moody's oocness? Ooh, tough subject there. I have tried to get Moody right, but his actions are hard to fit with the way I want the story to go. About Bianca, Yes, you are absolutely right. But Nico has grown. He is not an eleven-year-old boy anymore. Bianca's death is no longer fresh in his mind. If you have, and you should have, read the Son of Neptune, Then you know that Nico even at no older than thirteen discussed his sister's death with Hazel, who was a complete stranger at the time. Wow, I don't like the way I worded that. I have read both of the Kane Chronicles books, and found neither to be specifically worthy of note. **

**Sincerely, **

**The Georgian Devil**

**So, there you have it. I have a new story out, and this marks the completion of Puppy Dog Tales. To all of my faithful readers and reviewers:**

"_Now is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." –Winston Churchill_


End file.
